EC15 dipper carnage

[Muz]

Shoulda welded that crack across the dipper inside hinge a bit sooner

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Every one Ive owned has cracked in the same place, if you weld it, it just cracks again, so I will have to strengthen this one. Its a lack of bonding to the internal cast thats the issue

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When I first spotted this years ago the Volvo dealer was supposed to replace them, but for some reason the trail went cold .....

[Muz]

Well it took some alignment as bits of the head were warped after the break .. To be fair I had it re-fitted and all lined up and tacked .. ready for welding, took the dipper off to start and just caught a visual on one perspective that looked 'off', so .. whilst off the machine, I visually realigned it, tacked it and refitted it ,......and it looked perfect, so proceeded to weld up ... the tear at the front looked a big gash though, (and yes it does have a forward overlap from a factory gusset) because that was the last bit holding is it would have been ripped off, so , a lot of deformation here

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Once that was done , I had to hand cut some strengtheners and fit them ... I dont want to be troubled by this failure again....

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I've sculpted out some notches out of the straps to allow full articulation of the dipper ram ... as is it wouldnt fully retract by about 3/4 " initially between the boom forks .. but what you see is the finished article .. just about .. bit of snotty welding to tidy up and paint and before all you welding boys go critical on my ass ... I'm used to welding dung spreaders .. with no prep what so ever .. thats how I learned

[RedLiner]

Those welds don't look too bad, did you use a MIG or a stick welder?

A good idea to use extra strengtheners, I've always found that even meaty top class welds always crack either side of the weld.

[Muz]

Those welds don't look too bad, did you use a MIG or a stick welder?

Cheers mate ... you can post here any time I'm a died in the wool stick man .... I can weld a kit kat paper with it (mig men look away in horror now )

A good idea to use extra strengtheners, I've always found that even meaty top class welds always crack either side of the weld.

They shouldn't do if done right ? ... usually we are trying to correct a problem .. and that's what was happening here .. I had to do something to improve the original manufacturers design

[v8druid]

Those welds don't look too bad, did you use a MIG or a stick welder?

A good idea to use extra strengtheners, I've always found that even meaty top class welds always crack either side of the weld.

aye done well it'll be the parent material that lets go first ... a good weld has a higher tensile strength usually.
Looks fine Muz ... be stronger than it's been in a long time, if not ever

That was what you call a catastrophic failure .... or a proper that's f***ed it job
As you say, it looks like it has never penetrated to the sub-component, which has, without doubt, caused the issue

[Muz]

Looks fine Muz ... be stronger than it's been in a long time, if not ever

That was what you call a catastrophic failure .... or a proper that's f***ed it job
As you say, it looks like it has never penetrated to the sub-component, which has, without doubt, caused the issue

Aye... well.... if you are happy with what you see mate .. I'll take that

I suppose the point is .. any of this is better than what a WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURER CALLED VOLVO failed to do

[v8druid]

Aye... well.... if you are happy with what you see mate .. I'll take that

I suppose the point is .. any of this is better than what a WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURER CALLED VOLVO failed to do

Er .... yup, reckon so mate

[RedLiner]

Volvo-Penta

WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURER CALLED VOLVO

Don't get me started with that shower of tw*ts.
My boat has two Volvo-Penta engines, the biggest bug-bear being the cost of spare parts

A lot of the spares are common to Volvo engines used in vans and lorries.
E.G. a Volvo-Penta distribution belt costs €263, take off the Penta and buy the same belt with exactly the same part number for a Volvo van €83

I do this too with fuel and oil filters and other bits and pieces at 2/3rds of the cost.

[Muz]

A lot of the spares are common to Volvo engines used in vans and lorries.
E.G. a Volvo-Penta distribution belt costs €263, take off the Penta and buy the same belt with exactly the same part number for a Volvo van €83

Yep .. I dont know how many threads Ive got on here banging on about the same problem .. seems Euro manufacturers are the worst for this

[RedLiner]

Really off topic now but a classic example of this rip off culture for spares was the hydraulic suspension spheres for some Rolls-Royce/Bently models.
These cost an arm and a leg but they were actually made by Citroën for some of their models, these green spheres were sprayed black and quadrupled in price for the Rollers.

Another one closer to home were the the two transmission Flex discs on one of my Merc SL500s. The Mercedes-Benz part cost over 100€ each, I bought two branded "Vaico" flex discs at €54 each. Both the OEM Mercedes and the Vaico flex discs are made by "Süddeutsche Gelenkscheibenfabrik," and are stamped with SGF. They are both identical in Weight size and construction and made in West Germany. To have the three pointed Mercedes star stamped on them will cost more than double